Wednesday, October 08, 2003
LXG
I watched The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen yesterday. And, since I promised a friend that I'd write about it here, I am putting up another review....do I hear a collective groan or mild approval?? Well, whatever be the response, I guess I have to go on to keep my word.
LXG is inspired from a comic series by the same name. It tells the story of a band of really extraordinary people who are called in to help the British Empire and the world from a possible World War at the end of the 19th Century. Well-known characters from classic fiction form the band, which I think would have been called LX People in these days of politically correct titles such as chairperson, etc., the reason being there is a female in the group.
The movie sticks fairly to the lines of the comic, or so I hear, since I haven't read the comic series. Alan Quatermain, from King Solomon's Mines is the leader of the group. The others include Captain Nemo (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ), Rodney Skinner (based on the original The Invisible Man ), Wilhelmina Harker (Dracula ), Dorian Grey (The Picture of Dorian Grey ), Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde (novel by the same name) and, of all people, Tom Sawyer (The Adventures of Tom Sawyer ). These are all selected by a mysterious M...reminded me of James Bond before I knew about the comic series. The movie differs from the sources, from what I have been able to gather in a short time, in the following ways:
1) M is believed to be Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock's elder brother, in the comic series. In the movie, it turns out to be James Moriarty, Sherlock's archenemy and "The Napoleon of Crime" in Sherlock Holmes' words.
2) The comic series had the original Invisible Man from Victor Hugo's novel while the movie has Rodney Skinner, a 'gentleman thief' who steals the invisbility serum, without realising that there is no antiserum yet.
3) Dorian Grey is safe as long as his picture is safe in the original book by Oscar Wilde, but in the movie, he dies if he sets eyes on the picture.
4) Captain Nemo is depicted as a Sikh in both the comic series and the movie as against the novel, apparantly reverting to the original intention of Jules Verne.
On the whole, the movie was good, though it does stretch one's imagination quite a bit. Some of the graphics are good enough and the narrative is not too good. The actors put up a good performance. Sean Connery is his usual suave self, a hunter, explorer and a leader. Naseeruddin Shah as Captain Nemo has to put up a stiff demeanour, and I think has been wasted. He does manage to put some life into the highly stereotypical role. The ship, Nautilus, is shown as a sword, unlike the whale shape it assumes in the novel. Another interesting thing is the Shiv Ling shape at the head of the ship. The director has managed to get a Sikh to worhsip Goddess Kali, and there is also an idol of Ganesh in the ship; wonder when Hollywood film-makers get out of such stupid stereotyping! Peta Wilson is good as the vampire Mina Harker..as for the others, they are good enough, but don't attract attention except for the character of Grey in some places. I liked the scene where he replies, "I am complex" to a "What are you?" by someone who tries to kill him.
The League is gathered to fight a man who calls himself 'The Phantom', and who dreams of world leadership, first by starting an arms race between the leaders of the various empires. The idea seems far-fetched anyways. The revelation that M is none other than Moriarty, aka Phantom becomes evident when the mask falls off the Phantom's face, even before the face is revealed; there's no possibility of a new character that late into the movie. I know that some of you might feel that I gave away the plot, but there is no plot to be given away! So chill! It is not all that bad a movie, neither is it a good one. But, watch it on the big screen, if you do watch it; a DVD will just make the movie more painful than it really is.
All that I feel after seeing the movie is that I think I need to read Bram Stoker's Dracula, King Solomon's Mines, Picture of Dorian Grey. As for the books having other characters, I have read them and I don't think I can take all those classics again, not yet! Also, I wonder why Frankenstein was left out!
PS: Why is it that I always review not-too-good to downroght-bad movies?? Coincidence??
LXG is inspired from a comic series by the same name. It tells the story of a band of really extraordinary people who are called in to help the British Empire and the world from a possible World War at the end of the 19th Century. Well-known characters from classic fiction form the band, which I think would have been called LX People in these days of politically correct titles such as chairperson, etc., the reason being there is a female in the group.
The movie sticks fairly to the lines of the comic, or so I hear, since I haven't read the comic series. Alan Quatermain, from King Solomon's Mines is the leader of the group. The others include Captain Nemo (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ), Rodney Skinner (based on the original The Invisible Man ), Wilhelmina Harker (Dracula ), Dorian Grey (The Picture of Dorian Grey ), Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde (novel by the same name) and, of all people, Tom Sawyer (The Adventures of Tom Sawyer ). These are all selected by a mysterious M...reminded me of James Bond before I knew about the comic series. The movie differs from the sources, from what I have been able to gather in a short time, in the following ways:
1) M is believed to be Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock's elder brother, in the comic series. In the movie, it turns out to be James Moriarty, Sherlock's archenemy and "The Napoleon of Crime" in Sherlock Holmes' words.
2) The comic series had the original Invisible Man from Victor Hugo's novel while the movie has Rodney Skinner, a 'gentleman thief' who steals the invisbility serum, without realising that there is no antiserum yet.
3) Dorian Grey is safe as long as his picture is safe in the original book by Oscar Wilde, but in the movie, he dies if he sets eyes on the picture.
4) Captain Nemo is depicted as a Sikh in both the comic series and the movie as against the novel, apparantly reverting to the original intention of Jules Verne.
On the whole, the movie was good, though it does stretch one's imagination quite a bit. Some of the graphics are good enough and the narrative is not too good. The actors put up a good performance. Sean Connery is his usual suave self, a hunter, explorer and a leader. Naseeruddin Shah as Captain Nemo has to put up a stiff demeanour, and I think has been wasted. He does manage to put some life into the highly stereotypical role. The ship, Nautilus, is shown as a sword, unlike the whale shape it assumes in the novel. Another interesting thing is the Shiv Ling shape at the head of the ship. The director has managed to get a Sikh to worhsip Goddess Kali, and there is also an idol of Ganesh in the ship; wonder when Hollywood film-makers get out of such stupid stereotyping! Peta Wilson is good as the vampire Mina Harker..as for the others, they are good enough, but don't attract attention except for the character of Grey in some places. I liked the scene where he replies, "I am complex" to a "What are you?" by someone who tries to kill him.
The League is gathered to fight a man who calls himself 'The Phantom', and who dreams of world leadership, first by starting an arms race between the leaders of the various empires. The idea seems far-fetched anyways. The revelation that M is none other than Moriarty, aka Phantom becomes evident when the mask falls off the Phantom's face, even before the face is revealed; there's no possibility of a new character that late into the movie. I know that some of you might feel that I gave away the plot, but there is no plot to be given away! So chill! It is not all that bad a movie, neither is it a good one. But, watch it on the big screen, if you do watch it; a DVD will just make the movie more painful than it really is.
All that I feel after seeing the movie is that I think I need to read Bram Stoker's Dracula, King Solomon's Mines, Picture of Dorian Grey. As for the books having other characters, I have read them and I don't think I can take all those classics again, not yet! Also, I wonder why Frankenstein was left out!
PS: Why is it that I always review not-too-good to downroght-bad movies?? Coincidence??
